Reflection and Progression

I hope trading is going well for everyone. I had been torn between whether or not I would continue trading off small charts or advance to big charts. There are so many inspiring traders who do not know which style of trading fits their personality. I was caught in that turmoil. I had to walk away from the forum and find what works best for me. I was simply overloading myself with information. Most of you know I have ADD, and I was starting to make simple mistakes because I was trying to do too much and over analyze my approaches. I had a few trades that turned on me for losses. I was not accustomed to losses based on simple mistakes. Sometimes a trade will turn and it simply was not supposed to turn (as we see it), but it does and you take a small loss. That is apart of trading and should be expected. No one trades and never loses. Loses might come very far and few between, but we all have some losses. I had to pull back and find a happy place-lol! Where did I find that happy place? In my trading room, redefining my trading style and finding ways to successfully trade BIG CHARTS. I can now trade successfully from small charts and or big charts.

I was inspired by Darcy, and I learned a great deal from her technical trading processes off small charts. I took hours and hours to go back and breakdown her trades. There were so many things revealed during the process. I do not use all of her techniques, but I definately have some Darcism in my style of trading off small charts! That lady does not realize how many lives she has touched and changed. There are others out there who know the secret. STUDY HER WORK! SAVE HER POSTS! TRY TO UNDERSTAND HER PROCESS! Yes, I am screaming at you because I am a witness and living proof that you can build a solid foundation from what she shares.

I have now learned a successful style of trading off Big Charts. I was inspired by Big Chart Trader. I do not know if he is still on the forum, but he is a person of few words, but there is substance and good content in every post he has ever shared. The one thing that helped me the most was, breaking down BC Trader's trades. He shared a few with us several months ago. I was salivating. I could not wait to try to get in his head, so I could unfold this mystery about Big Charts. After hours and hours of study, I now trade off big charts successfully. when I have an ideal set up. I still trade small charts as well. I have to feed my need to be challenged.I never knew Big Chart trading could be so "Sweet". I primarily trade AAPL. It is a stock I am familiar with and traded in the past. I have totally "rocked it" lately.

My thought process has been, I studied and practiced until I was bored being right (Remember Gary saying that). Well, that is what I do. If I lose my way, I practice until I am sick of being right. I know it is time to start back trading real money when I am yawning as I place a practice trade. It is either a sure trade or it is not. Your thought process cannot be one that says, "It is a trade-BUT, the ADX line is flat. It is a trade, BUT, I do not have a clean HRFP. Again, for me, it is either all there or it is not a trade. If it is not a trade, I keep it moving and do not try to force it. I do not use anything outside of technicals when trading. I do not use the broad market anymore, news, or anything else. I will glimpse at the DOW because if it is charging down, despite what my indicators are confirming, I do not want to trade against the broad market charging against me. I simply depend on my indicators. The most important indicator that I use is, MONEY FLOW! It tells me everything I need to know about what is going on intraday with the stock.

A gentleman talked about sharing losing trades with the masses. I totally understand his point, but I think what we find is, no one trades alike. Also no one wants to indirectly be called a "BoneHead". I promise I have some I can share with you that you would say, "You bonehead" what were you thinking? What did you see? Reminds me of the "Good Book". Today, you and I can read the same pages in the GB, but it speaks and conveys something to you that is totally different from what I interpreted. Why? We read the same pages. Well, we were reared differently, had different experiences in life, taught differently, we are dealing with different problems,etc. The same goes with trading. You can interpret something that Gary says totally differently than the way I interpret it. It does not mean what you heard is wrong. If you can implement a system that works based off what you heard, you gained what you needed from your interpretation. I will not share losing trades because I do not want someone to criticize what I say, and bruise my already fragile ego.

Final words....
Take small amounts and harvest. Be content with making $100 because when trying to make $200, you lose it all. I have alway had a rule. If I sell a position, I always close up shop for the day. Yes, everything is put away- my laptop, my hotspot is shut down, my bag is stuffed with my trading stuff. I am not going to be tempted to place another trade.
Set goals based on number of profitable trades, but not how much you profited. Just string together profitable trades. The money will come.
I try not to get into percentages.
Trade whatever the market gives you. If you gain 100%- good. If you gain 15%- good. You had profitable trades.
If a stock turns on you, GET OUT! If you stay in, you are gambling because you have no idea which direction it will go. You are hoping and praying it comes back your way. Trading should never be treated like gambling.

I hope some of you have read some previous post. You will figure out real quickly that I will help anyway I can. My life has been changed because of trading. I never thought I would be in a place to not worry about finances. It did not happen overnight. It takes a lot of work and time. Just know this, when you get it, you will know it immediately. You will lay back and think to yourself, "I got it, and my life is about to change". The only issue I have that a lot of you guys have jumped on me about is, I have a huge basket, but have no idea how to do Widows and Orphans or The Vault stuff. All of my money is just sitting in my basket, but I place $5000-$10,000 trades depending on whether or not i am small chart trading or Big Chart Trading, so I never risk anymore than that. It is kinda funny and sad, but I am content with piling it on in the basket. I am well on my way to retire within my 5 year window. I am really happy about that. I look forward to the day I can go into my bosses office and say, " I am putting in my month's notice". I am 44 and by the age of 50, I want to be trading from home. If you need me, do not hesitate to reach out.

Take care, and I hope you need to invest in a dump truck to deliver all that money to the bank. Just get prepared to buy two because one truck will need to go to Uncle Sam's Home- lol!

rookie,

You shared a lot of information that truly resonates with me and my current position in trading. All very notable points, and I will take them to heart.

I am 21 years old and avidly attempting to understand what style of trading I do best. When I am not at school, or doing homework I am glued to my charts. With this forum and it's WONDERFUL members I aim to be trading full time by 30. (I give myself a longer time frame than 5 years because I force a lot of my trades. I feel like I am constantly missing opportunity, and that is a serious hurdle I am slowly but surely learning to overcome.)

Just so you know, I put a note of paper on my monitor saying, "it is either all there or it is not a trade".

Thanks to all of you that make this a gold mine of valuable information for people like me. Just know that you are having a tremendous impact on us, even if we do not speak up much. This forum has provided me with some stable structure of trading and I am just now laying the foundation.

Welcome back Rookie, good to see you back.

Happy to have you back, Rookie - you were missed!!

Rookie...

I certainly do not mind being called a bonehead when I am one.

I don't think anyone here can ever pull the most bonehead move I made when I first started. I was excited to trade and could not wait. S/O and I decided if we could raise 3-4 hundred a month we would be pleased.

My first trade was such a thrill for me until I figured out what a complete bonehead move I made.

I saw my stock pick moving fast so I bought way out of the money...in fact it was so out of the money the bid was zero!

What was I thinking???? My ask was a nickle and my bid was zero. It never changed. Look don't buy anything if your bid is zero.

After I entered the trade I realized what I had done. I couldn't sell because the sell (bid) was ZERO. I was stuck until the exiration day. I was so embarassed that I changed where I had an account.

So no bonehead move can possibly be worse than that!

I was a bonehead!

Darcy, I think I got you. When I first started, I saw a trade that was blasting down. I jumped in my account and bought the position. Guess what? I did not click the drop down, selecting a "PUT". The call option was auto coded. I was nervous and did not think. I still feel like a bonehead. Needless to say I lost money. Luckily, as soon as I hit the confirm button, I thought about it and immediately got out, but I lost commissions, premiums, and a bit on the option price. I am glad we can laugh about those times. Anyone else want to try to top that one?

Rocawill,
You will be massively successful with this trading thing, if you are truly going to allow yourself an extended amount of time to learn the art of trading. Most people can not do that. You are young and could be working from home before you are 25. You young people usually do not have a lot of bills yet, so you can retire and live off a lot less than some of us old folks.

Just know, you will continue to make mistakes. Try to learn something from them. Get mad and force yourself to figure out why the trade turned against you. This is how you start developing your unique style. Once you understand why a trade turned against you, you are more acutely aware of how to approach the issue in the future. I get "pumped" when I feel the energy from young people who refuse to settle. Keep pushing ahead. Make sure your failures are in practice. Do not be like some of us and jump to fast in the real money. Win in practice until you are bored being right. Also, respect the concept of being Happy in Seattle. I exercise that option often.

Good luck

I did the same thing you did Rookie. However....

When I started trading real money. I jump into a postion toooo fast. I was trying to buy a PUT, and didn't notice that I had bought the CALL option instead. I didn't notice it for about 4 hours, and by then the market had closed for the day. I was sweating big bullets.
The real funny part is I actually made money on the trade. Here I was trying to buy a PUT, but ended up with a CALL and made money. The stock gapped higher the next morning and never slowed down. I was wrong right from the start, but I guess my ignorance provided a cushion to keep me from losing my shirt.

I've heard that the Lord looks out for children, and fools. Well, I must have been a childrish fool in his eyes at that time:-)